Toward A `Family Friendly' Workplace

October 28, 1994

The face of the American workforce has undergone a significant change since the end of World War II, and it's time industry began to change along with it.

That is perhaps the most sweeping conclusion to be drawn from the results of a survey, released recently by the Labor Department, aimed at identifying the primary work-related concerns of American women who are employed outside the home.

Many of those concerns relate to the difficulties in balancing work and family obligations-including everything from day care to health care. But perhaps most telling is what the survey reveals about a changing environment for everyone, not just women.

The nation has undergone something akin to a tectonic shift in its social order over the last 40 years as more and more women-mothers with small children, in particular-have headed out the door to work. Now, with 58 million American women comprising almost half the nation's workforce, so-called women's issues are important issues for the business community as well.

Congress has taken steps to address the change in the labor force, but government cannot, and should not, be the corporate rulemaker as the country prepares for the realities of the 21st Century.

While it is appropriate that governments-federal, state and local-lead by example and provide incentives for private industry, business leaders must be farsighted enough to recognize the long-term benefits of maintaining an efficient and productive workforce by responding to the family needs of its employees.

Some "family friendly" policies already in force at a handful of corporations include on-site or subsidized day care, paid leave to care for a sick child and flexible hours to accommodate dual work schedules.

Certainly, women workers have concerns not generally shared by their male counterparts-discrimination in pay and advancement, for example-and those should be dealt with by law.

But the larger issues raised by the 250,000 working women who answered the survey questionnaire cannot simply be legislated away. The nation's employers must realize that what is good for the family is good for the community-and that's good for business.